


To climb the sky alone

by Gerbilfriend



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Sword Art Online
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Possible Cannon Divergence, Pre Luna Usagi is in SAO, Romance?, SAO survivor!Usagi, Usagi doesn't want to die, i have no idea what i am doing, its SAO, probably major character death, random idea, what do you expect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2019-07-17 21:16:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 5,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerbilfriend/pseuds/Gerbilfriend
Summary: In which Usagi, 10 years old, is one of the 10,000





	1. Chapter 1

 

She couldn’t breathe as the panic overwhelmed her,  _ I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die  _ she screamed, unsure if she was yelling or not. __ The fear was all consuming and unending as she lay ( _ when had she fallen down) _ on the pavings of the plaza. 

 

She felt the strange not-pain of an impact, a blurry person crashed into her field of vision before getting back up. The solo sensation faded away fast. 

 

_ If I lay here, I will be safe. Right?  _ She could stay and not move, she didn’t want to move. The scattered crystals of a player death she had seen rose unbidden into her mind and she turned as if to wretch. The heves came up awkward, her mind knowing what to do and her body not responding, unable to respond. Glitchy. It was another reminder. Another awful sign. This was not her body. She was going to die, she didn’t want to die. They were dead. Without knowing. Just one missed slash. That was it. That could have been her. It wasn’t her.

 

She was alive. 

 

But she would not be for long if she kept lying here. 

 

The realization galvanized her into getting up. She felt funny. Her legs shook as she tried to stand and she stumbled onto a bench.

 

She was alive. 

 

But there was no guarantee that she would stay that way.

 

It was like the time she had seen a tightrope walker as they had lightly danced their way down the line. 

 

Usagi was on a tightrope now. On either side was death. She had no sense of balance. She was going to fall.  _ I don’t want to die. _

 

It was cyclical. She would try to move. Then she would remember. Then she would remain still,  _ this is a safe zone, I can’t die here.   _  She would be safe. Life and death were cyclical, her teacher had said. The moon was a circle.

 

She burst out laughing,  _ why was she thinking of the moon now? It couldn’t save her. _

  
  


Even so she found herself glancing up and the moon with blurry eyes, it was (wrong wrong wrong) not her moon but it was something. With her eyes focused up above she shoved off the bench.

 

She did not want to die.

 

She was alive.

 

She was going to stay that way.


	2. Rei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei Hino always did have physic powers

 

Rei Hino wakes up with a sense of impending doom. 

 

There's no other words for it, she tries to describe it to Grandpa over breakfast and he sympathizes but doesn’t Get It. He doesn’t understand that today, today something is going to go Wrong. 

 

So she waits, and waits. Ignoring the ghost hanging over her shoulders as she attempts to get through her school.

 

Until the news breaks.

 

_ Oh, that's what is was,  _ she thinks dully, pushing back the feeling that she should be doing something, helping someone.  _ There's nothing I can do,  _ she thinks attempting to quiet the feelling.

 

The feeling never quite goes away, not that day or the next.

 

It just lingers, a duty she should be doing but isn’t


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Usagi makes a friend (and I procrastinate working on my other story because why not). Also Yuna is a real character, just sayin.

_ It’s already been a month,  _ Usagi thought, almost dazed as she stared at her feet. Her hair pooled around her and dangled awkwardly off the wall in a testimate to SAO physics- she hadn’t had the energy to put it back in her normal style since The Day.

 

Nothing was normal anymore.

 

She was trying, but it was hard when to food tasted like cardboard and she had no where to stay and no one to stay with. 

 

She shoved off the wall that she was perched on and started to make her way down the street. 

 

Her cor was at zero now, she had spent the last of her starting money on food and her room rental had run out the night before.

 

_ What do I do now…  _ she wondered desperately as she went down the street. She was only ten! This wasn’t fair!

 

She was so tired of being alone. 

 

She was so tired of being hungry.

 

She was so tired of being scared

 

She was so tired. 

 

But she couldn’t stop. 

 

She wasn’t going to die. 

 

She wasn’t going to give up.

 

She wandered down the street listlessly, looking for something, anything that could help. She needed money, something had to give. She didn’t want to die.

 

To not die required money, and now, here she felt her eyes prickle, like tears were about to come out but nothing happened. Swiping her hand across her face in habit Usagi twisted her mind away from the thought. She needed somewhere to stay and food to eat, she would figure it out. She had too.

 

She wandered down the darkened streets, looking for somewhere safe to sleep or something. 

 

At first she thought she was imagining it but as she continued to walk forward she knew she wasn’t- someone was singing! 

 

_ I know this song!  _ Usagi realized as she followed the sound her feet moving almost unbidden as her hair glitched awkwardly behind her.

 

As she turned the last corner she could make out the lyrics but more than that she could see the singer. She was illuminated by the (fake, fake, fake) moonlight as she stood in one of the many small plaza’s in the Town of Beginnings eyes clenched shut and singing her heart out. 

 

Usagi couldn’t help but join in, “ah ah ah, love you very much Doraemon” she sang out, singing  along with the other girl.

 

The singers voice faltered as Usagi’s joined her but she rallied and they sang the final course together. 

 

As the last note finished Usagi stood awkwardly,  _ what did she do now?  _ She had tried to talk to other players before but it had never worked out. Nobody had time for her, and even if they said they did it felt… wrong. So she had stuck by herself even as she fell apart.

 

The other girl seemed frozen too, now that her eyes were open Usagi could see they were a really pretty amber. 

 

“Um… do you watch Doraemon too” she gasped out awkwardly, trying to break the silence.  

 

“Y-yeah. To bad we are missing the new episodes” the girl agreed. 

 

“Yeah. I was really excited to see what they would do next”

 

“Me too” 

 

The silence continued, this time it was the other girl that broke it. 

 

“I’m Yuna, what's your name” she said as she stepped off the podium.

 

_ What do I say,  _ her thoughts flew wildly,  _ I’m Usagi but not in the game in the game I’m,  _ “Bunny. I’m Bunny” she said quickly. 

 

“Nice to meet you Bunny-chan” 

 

“Nice to meet you to, Yuna-san” Usagi-bunny said, grasping onto any normality she could find. 

 

A gurgling noise filled the air and a chime broke the silence that had (yet again) formed as a holographic sign popped up in front of her <<You are Hungry>>. It was like a switch had been flipped, Usagi felt her stomach's emptiness like a black hole had opened up. She needed food. 

 

Quickly she swiped open her inventory,  _ I have to have something edible,  _ she thought desperately as she looked at her meger inventory. No matter how much she stared at it its contents never changed. 

 

“Do you want a candy, it's kinda bland but it is the best I could find here”. Looking away from the glowing screen of her inventory Usagi saw a sweet. It looked kinda odd wrapped in some sort of brown paper but it was food.

“Thank you” she said, ducking into a quick bow before grabbing and unwrapping the candy. One time years ago Usagi had gotten candy in a cardboard box, the box had gotten wet and the cady had melted into it. She had tried the box, desperate for her sweets. That taste from so long ago was once again in her mouth, this time she did not spit it out.

 

“Um, are you okay? I know its not great candy but it was what I could find here”

 

She couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She felt them rip out in huge, shuddering tides, the candy shoved to one side of the month. 

 

Suddenly she found something around her,  _ she hugging me _ ! Part of Usagi realized distantly as the rest of her sobbed. It didn’t feel like a hug should, there was something missing but it was warm and the safest the she had felt since the sky turned red, thus she sobbed into Yuna’s arms.

Above them the (fake, fake, fake) moon seemed to flicker and seem almost fuller but alas, neither girl noticed.


	4. Chapter 4

It got easier, once she found Yuna. Not easy, but easier. It was still scary, she could still die so much easier than before- but she wasn’t alone now. 

 

Now she had someone to stand by, someone to help her find quests that she could take, that 

worked for her. It helped. A lot.

 

And then the first floor was cleared.

 

It took a month, but it was cleared.

 

Somehow, that felt a little like hope.

 

“Do you want to head to the second floor?” Yuna asked, once they heard the news.

 

Usagi looked around the dingy room that they rented for 50 cor a night (Yuna had had it the day that they met and the bed was big enough for two. It was small but they didn’t make that much money from the quests that they took or the things that they found and sold. They made do. Bunny had done a lot of making due since-) 

 

“I don’t know” Usagi said as she fingered the starting blade in her hands, “I don’t think I’m strong enough”

 

“Me too” Yuna agreed, “so many people have gone out and…” she trailed off, Usagi didn’t like where that thought went either.  “But still, now if we wait a bit we might be able to find some better quests. That would be great, right”

 

“Yeah” Usagi said, buoyed by the prospect. 

It was a hope. She was learning just how much that mattered.


	5. Chapter 5

Things had gotten better since the second floor had opened up. 

 

They were still living out of the same cheap one room and still not leaving the starting city but they had been able to find more quests.

 

Usagi had been able to find a daily quest “delivering bread” that paid 5 cor, not much but it was something that worked well combined with Yuna’s quests. 

 

It made her feel like she was helping out, like she wasn’t just hanging off Yuna’s generosity but finding things and contributing. 

 

“How are we doing on money today Yuna”, she asked as they sat on the sole bed in their dingy room to check their totals for the day. It was odd not using an honrific for Yuna but she didn’t mind it and Usagi liked it, it made her feel closer to the other girl.

 

“Not bad, we got eighty cor in all today. We need fifty for tomorrow's rent but we can put the rest to better armor and maybe try some new food”

 

“Something that doesn’t taste like cardboard” Usagi asked hopefully. She wanted real food again, she wanted her… Luckily Yuna interrupted that train of thought.

 

“Maybe, I bet food gets better as we go up so maybe in a bit we get better food sent down to us”

 

“Yuna”, Usagi trailed off, she didn’t want to offend the older girl…

 

“Yeah”

 

“I was wondering, why don’t we go to the second floor?” seeing Yuna’s face Usagi stumbled to explain, “not this week or the next but sometime. We could probably get better quests in it's starting city” 

 

“Maybe but I promised Eh-Nautilus that I would stay safe and I don’t want to worry him. Besides it will be awhile before the second floor is a good place to go.”

 

“Makes sense”

 

“We should sleep now, we need to get up early if we want our quests”

 

Usagi wanted to moan, she wanted to stay up and sleep in. Unfortunately Yuna had a point. “Alright” she said, trying to hide her discontent. 

Sleep came at once as it always did in SAO, yet somehow Usagi dreamed. Even if she didn’t know what she dreamed of.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope this sounds okay, sorry for the long gap

Bunny focused on the sword in her hand, concentrating on holding it up. She had to learn this. 

 

It was SAO. She needed to be able to use the sword. Even if she wasn’t a front liner. Yuna wanted her too.

 

It was hard. 

 

The weapon felt to long, unwieldy as she attempted slash. 

 

“You can do this, just focus on the slash”

 

The encouragement from Yuna made Bunny smile for a moment as she shifted her feet, trying to mimic the slash.  _ Hold…and release,  _ she thought. Her body moved as though it was being puppeted, pushed forward by the sword skill. 

 

She stumbled at the end, tripping and catching herself on her palms.

 

It didn't hurt. 

 

It should have.

 

“Nice job”

 

Bunny took Yuna’s offered hand and help getting back up.

 

“Thanks”

 

“We really have been doing better, we might be able to take <<The Rat Catcher’s Quest>> soon”

 

“That would be nice”, Usagi said, trying to keep the apprehension out of her voice. They had accidentally unlocked a quest stream a few days ago, the quests before had been simple, deliver flour, knead bread, stoke the ovens. The next one wasn’t. The next one was combat. 

 

They needed the money.

 

They needed the Exp. 

Usagi knew that they didn’t have a choice.

 

“We don’t have to Bunny, we can keep doing the earlier quests”, Yuna offered. Usagi felt her hopes rise, she didn’t want to fight.

 

She didn't like getting hurt, she hated violence. 

 

She thought of the rising prices, the new gear and the damage on their armor.

 

“No, we need to. Besides according to the guide this isn’t a bad quest. I know we can do it”

 

“If you sure”, Yuna said. 

 

“I am”, Bunny said, trying to be as forceful as she could.

 

She missed having choices. 

 

She missed a lot of things.

 

But she was alive. They were going to stay that way.


	7. Chapter 7

The sewers were dark and the dripping of water had looped in ten minutes, adding an eerie rhythm to the place.

 

Plop. Plop. Polp.

 

Odd skittering sounds rang out at random intervals, causing Usagi to want to shiver.

 

She followed behind Yuna, focusing of the green cursor above the other girl’s head. They were almost done.

 

Yuna darted forward and Bunny heard the chime of destruction. One more to go. 

 

“Almost there”, Yuna said, unknowingly echoing what Bunny had just thought. 

 

There. Bunny launched herself forward, feeling the game guide her as she slashed though the rat. 

 

Ding.

 

The glowing message in front of them informed them that they had killed 10/10 <<medium rats>> and 22/20 <<small rats>>.

 

“Finally”, Bunny said. She wanted to fling her hands into the air but refused to let go of her sword. Even she knew better than that.


	8. Chapter 8

The <<Young Baker>> smiled as Yuna reported that the quest was done. Quickly transferring the funds that were automatically split between the two of them. 

 

Bunny found it hard to pay attention, to focused on leaving. 

 

They had done it!

 

Sure it wasn’t a huge quest and the combat wasn’t that hard- that wasn’t what mattered. They had survived, with the ye-cor. With the cor, she corrected herself. They had cor. 

 

“You want to buy something from on of the vendors. I was reading a guide and apparently there's a sweet shop that only eats mostly like cardboard” 

 

Bunny could almost taste the sugar on her tongue, she wanted it so bad. Yuna had tried to keep her hard candies but they had run out and needed the money for other things. “Do we have enough, I know that quest paid well but..”. She didn’t want to need cor and not have it. 

 

“We do”, Yuna asserted as they turned, making their way to the market district. “Besides. I want to have candy on hand. I like having sweets to suck on and give out. I’m not letting this world take that away from me. We can treat ourselves, we deserve it”

 

“Okay. Lets”. They were walking close to each other and Bunny could see Yuna’s hand dangling.  _ Would she pull away?  _

 

Impulsively Bunny grabbed the other girls hand, feeling the real not realness of their avatars connecting. 

 

Yuna didn’t let go.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not sure about this chapter. The song that Yuna sings is Senbonzakura, the version is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdYKj2PvnZE

“Where are you going?”, Bunny asked as she let her hand fall from where it had been rubbing her eyes out of habit. 

 

Yuna was standing in the door frame, Bunny had the feeling that if this was real life the older girl would be blushing.

 

“I’m going to sing”

 

“To sing?”. Just like that Usagi was taken back to that night, was it already so long ago, where she had followed a voice and found her sister. 

 

“Yeah. I used to sing before. I don’t want to stop”

 

“Okay”, Bunny said as she tapped back into her daily wear. “Lets go”

 

“I’m not very good”. 

 

“You’re amazing”. Bunny wished she had words for how much hope Yuna’s song had given her, how much it meant to her. 

 

“If you say so”.

 

“I do”. Impulsively Bunny darted forward, hugging Yuna before dragging her out the door. 

 

This would be awesome!

 

Yuna stared out hesitant, her voice stuttering but as she sung she gained in power as the music swelled. 

 

She hadn’t heard this song before but it was strong. It made her feel strong.

 

Too soon it was over.

 

“Go ahead, keep shooting, with that ray gun, lead!”, Yuna fished strong.

 

Bunny cheered, running back up to her sister and almost tripping as she tackle hugged her.

 

“You liked it?”

 

Bunny didn’t bother to answer, instead nodding vigorously.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuna is thinking. Note I looked at my Time Line and V didn't line up like I needed, her POV will be later

Bunny used to be afraid of swords. Yuna watched as her sister flashed through the practiced motions, dispatching the <<large rat>> instantly. 

 

_ Am I doing the right thing?  _ Yuna just didn’t know. 

 

Bunny started another fight. Yuna touched the pommel of her dagger, wondering if she should intervene.

 

Her sister had it well in hand. The <<Bakers Quest>> made good grinding.

 

She remembered her last argument with Nautilus- she tried to keep Bunny away. Nautilus didn’t know Bunny like she did. 

 

He wanted them to go to safety. He wanted to protect them.

 

Yuna was done with being protected. 

 

“Switch”, she called, darting forward and engaging the third rat. She didn’t bother to engage the systems skills, instead she danced, finishing it off under her own power. 

 

Yuna needed to protect. Wanted to free everyone.

 

Bunny was grinning, her eyes, digital as they were, full of success. Of pride in a job well done.

 

Time was she had to be talked into raising her sword.  

 

She was changing. Bunny wasn’t really a child anymore, even more than Yuna wasn’t Yuuna. 

 

Who would they be when this was over?

 

Nautilus had told her about a girl on the first floor who was taking care of kids.  _ Would Bunny be happier there? She couldn’t have been more than ten when this started.  _

 

“Yuna?”

 

The question snapped her out of her reverie.  _ Stupid.  _ “Just wondering if we can level up again before todays over”

 

“Let's do it. Then we can sing”

 

“Deal”


	11. Haruka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka has opinions about VR

“Damn it”, Haruka swore as soon as they were in private. 

 

They had been looking forward to when VR tech had been adapted to racing games.

 

They had always wanted to race, even if they were supposedly to young to drive a car.

 

Now their parents refused to buy them the gear.

 

Damn SAO. 

 

They knew that game was trouble.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I already did a Haruka chapter so have Bunny running instead

They were cornered. Bunny knew that. It was always a risk when they partied with people outside their group but the <<Sunshine Forest>> had quests that were better taken in groups larger than two.

 

So they had.  Half way through the twisting trees they had met another party. The leader claimed that they knew the forest and offered to help them with the <<Widow’s herbs>> quest.

 

Bunny was just glad that something had tipped her off. That they had underestimated her. Otherwise they would have eaten the sandwiches offered.

 

<<This isn’t a safe zone but it’s our best bet>>. 

 

Bunny nodded typing, <<how long do you think we have?>>. She wanted to panic. She didn’t have time.

 

<<Not sure. Hope their <<tracking>> isn’t high. We should move soon>>. Yuna looked at something, her sight skills were better than Bunny’s. She had seen something. 

 

Hope started to rise in Bunny, maybe they would get out of this alive?

 

Bunny took a breath. Had she remembered to breath? She threw that thought away, they didn’t have time for that. <<Right>>.

 

<<Now. When I nod>>.

 

They ran.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not sure this came out right. I tried.

They fought. Not against the whole group, no, but against the last one. 

 

Bunny had tried to reason with him.

 

Yuna had interrupted him first lunge, knocking his sword off course and engaging in a battle of blades. 

 

She couldn’t move.

 

Yuna’s heath was yellow. 

 

Bunny joined, dancing like it was an ordinary mob.

 

His hit bar was red.

 

Then the clearing was clear.

 

Bunny’s cursor was orange.

 

Her blade looked normal. There was no sign of blood. 

 

It was still silver.

 

Nobody bleed in SAO. Somehow that was what stuck with her. She was beginning to wonder what blood felt like.

 

Did she even remember?

 

_ Yuna? _

 

Yuna was crying. It took a lot to cry in SAO. 

 

Bunny hugged Yuna. Her cursor was orange too. 

 

“We’re alive, we’re alive”. It was almost like a song. 

 

They were something shift behind. Both of them whirled away, back to back, swords out. 

 

It was just a deer.

 

“We should move. We can’t go back to town for a bit but we can set up in a safe zone”.

 

Bunny took a breath. It made her feel better. 

 

She could think about this later.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to 3D20 and Letra_sable for commenting. It really helps me keep writing. The song mentioned at the end is   
>  The Travelers Song by Aviators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZno7ZAR-fM

Bunny’s cursor was green again. Even so she found herself flinching as they walked back into the town. Found herself hiding behind her sister. 

 

Her sister who had killed to protect her. 

 

There was that odd not feeling that came with wanting to throw up. 

 

She had tried to talk to Yuna but her throat closed up. 

 

Bunny was so tired of death. 

 

They finished the quest, somethings just had to happen.  _ A person d-died for those herbs.  _ She couldn’t even think it without stumbling. 

 

Then they were out again. A person bumped into Yuna, Bunny almost drew her blade.

 

It just made her feel sicker.  _ I don’t want to kill. I don’t want too. _

 

Yuna must have seen something on her face because soon they were bundled into a small in room. 

 

Another day Bunny might have thought of it as cute.

 

Today was not that day.

 

She just sat there, staring at her feet dangling off the booted bed and remembering how she almost pulled her blade on a stranger in the market. 

 

“Here”. Bunny wanted to laugh, it was a sweet, what would a sweet do now?  _ Yuna had killed for her.  _

 

“I don’t want it”. She shoved the candy away.

 

“Why”.

 

“Not hungry”.

 

“Why”.

 

_ Why couldn’t Yuna stop asking, Bunny didn’t want to explain how it was all her fault. _

 

Yet again Yuna proved she was the better sibling by not pressing. They sat in silence, Bunny savored the presence of a locked door. 

 

Nobody could get them here. It was safety.

 

“I’m sorry”.

 

Bunny’s HUD blurred with how fast her head whipped around. “Why”, she demanded. 

 

“It’s my fault, if I hadn’t said yes and asked you to than-”

 

“-but I was the one who said let's take the quest and-”

 

“-I hesitated”

 

“-I’m sorry”. Yuna finished, interrupting Bunny. 

 

Bunny reached up, wiping away Yuna’s tears. It never felt right when her sister cried. 

 

Yuna reached up, covering Bunny’s hand with her own. “It’s okay Bunny, it’s the older sisters job to protect her younger sibling”.

 

“But-”

 

Yuna pulled her into a hug as she interrupted her. “But we’re alive. I would do it one hundred more times to protect you”.

 

“It’s not fair”, Bunny muttered feeling churlish and rebellious. “I hate this”.

 

Yuna got up. “Then let's sing. SAO can’t take that away from us”. 

 

They did. Bunny felt the other player’s, a sea of green stretched out before her, gazes on her as she stood next to her sister. Defiant.

 

It was their rebellion as they sung the Traveller's Song. 


	15. Ami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And its Ami's turn!

Ami watched from behind the curtain as her mother cried. 

 

She could go over to her mother but she wasn’t sure what she would say. She had already figured out that her mother was working with the Sword Art Online coma patients. 

 

Likely someone had died today.

 

There wasn’t anything she could do to make that better so instead she decided to start dinner.

 

She wished her father was here, he would know what to do.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm afraid that Bunny isn't Usagi enough. It's just hard because she is so young and in such a different place than canon Usagi.

Yuna was fighting with Nautilus again. Bunny hated it when this happened. 

 

She wished that she could fix something. Yuna always was sad after she talked to him, instead she stayed in their room. When Yuna finished they would go out on the town, maybe take a quest or two. 

 

After ten more minutes (it was hard to lose track of time when it was always on the HUD), she got bored.

 

_ Yuna wouldn’t mind it if I came to say hi, besides the best of the afternoon quests will be taken soon.  _

 

She opened the door quickly, just in time to hear Yuna say, “I am not sending Bunny away. Your my best friend but shes my sister. She will stay with me for as long as she wants”. 

 

The warmth in her heart was quickly dispelled by his next words, “than you will both die. She is going to drag you down”.

 

“No she's not. You don’t own me either, if you worry so much than stick around”.

 

They were both shouting now. 

 

Bunny shut the door.

 

It was five minutes later that Yuna came back in. “I’m sorry about that, before”, her she sniffed for a second, “before we were best friends. Now we can’t talk without this happening. It's only been nine months but it feels like a forever”.

 

“He wants you to be who you were, not who you are”. 

 

“He does”.  

 

It was a painful thought.


	17. Chapter 17

Today was a good day. 

 

They had gotten more cor then expected- more than that through, Yuna had finally figured out how to make candy drops that didn’t taste like cardboard.

 

Bunny savored the sweet taste in her mouth. 

 

It was something that she would not forget.


	18. Chapter 18

“I don’t want to”. Bunny crossed her arms to emphasize her point. She was Tired of doing the same quest every day. 

 

It was boring. 

 

Didn’t Yuna understand, kids needed engagement and play. Not boring sewers with rats and slimy things in the corner of their eyes. 

 

Yuna was laughing. “What are you laughing”, she demanded. Bunny didn’t understand what was so funny.

 

Yuna giggled a bit more. “It’s the first time I’ve seen you act your age”. 

 

Well.

 

“I still don’t want to go”. 

 

“We can find another quest”.


	19. Makoto

Makoto is so tired of all the drama around SAO.

 

She knows she shouldn't be, knows that it is a tragedy but yesterday Aki came in for the first time after her mom died and everyone made a big deal out how strong she was and how brave she was.

 

Makoto tried to come over. She knows what that is like.

 

They had run away from her.

 

It’s just not fair. 

 

Her family is gone too.


	20. Chapter 20

Yuna had just finished singing when she noticed the NPC hanging around. She looked like a teenage girl with brown hair in a tight crown braid and a worried look on her face.

 

Bunny watched as she approached as she sat on the bench that had been her spot for the last three days. 

 

“Can I help you?”, Yuna asked curiously. NPC’s didn’t normally come up to player characters like this. 

 

The NPC fidgeted. “Will you come with me”, she blurted out. 

 

“Why?”, Bunny asked- the NPC looked like it needed help. 

 

“You obviously love to sing, please will you sing for my sister”.

 

The chiming noise announced the quest. Bunny could see the pop up in front of Yuna as well. <<Song of Healing>> had been added. 

 

Bunny tapped it, pulling up the details. Apparently the NCP- Akane’s sister was sick. Akane thought the families song would help. Unfortunately the last verse was on a tablet in the forest and Akane didn’t think she was good enough to sing it. That was sad. Bunny wanted to yell at Akane and tell her that she could- she had tried that before. NCP’s were just programs. It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

 

“-Do you think?”

 

Bunny looked back at Yuna, having been distracted by her thoughts. 

 

“Do you want to take it, you said that you were getting bored”.

 

Bunny looked at Akane, the women hadn’t reacted to their decision, instead she was still standing, fidgeting. Hope in her eyes. 

 

“Let's do it”. 


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I had more to write about this apparently

The twenty fourth floor was beautiful. Yuna was not surprised that this floor is the site of a music quest. 

 

The rippling of water is it's own melody after all. 

 

She watched Bunny carefully- it had been like a switch was flipped as they left the safe zone. “We can stay, you know”. She didn’t want to push her little sister. 

 

“No. I”, Bunny stuttered, Yuna wanted to hug her and tell her that things were okay. She couldn’t, this wasn’t a world of safety, “I want to help Akane. The reward looks good too, right? That will really help us. Beside we will be fine. We will be”. Bunny nodded forcefully to herself. 

 

Yuna wished she could find it cute.  

 

They crossed the border.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I hit a block on writing the quest so I hope this works out okay

The quest had gone surprisingly well. 

 

Well. There had been the monsters and Bunny was sure that even she never was as reckless as Akane.

 

And there had been the heart stopping moment when the water had pulled her down down down, tangled in the whiskers of some sort of monster.

 

But she had stabbed the monster and hacked the whiskers off and made it to the surface and leveled up- she had put more points in tracking and agility- and they were off again.

 

Yuna had hugged her like there was no tomorrow.

 

Akane had barely reacted. 

 

They had kept going. 

 

Yuna had said that they could go back. But this was something that Bunny had asked for and more than that Akane’s sister needed their help.

 

They spent the night in a clearing. Akane had hemmed and hawed but Yuna had made sure it was a safe zone and offered to stay up and keep watch.

 

It had worked. 

 

And they were off the next day.

 

Before Bunny had wanted to watch the water- this time she stayed carefully away from the edge.

 

And then they made it. She and Akane hung back as Yuna brushed the dust of the pedestal to read. 

 

The song was beautiful. Usagi had heard the first few verses on the walk over, but it hadn’t felt complete. 

 

Now it did. 

 

Bunny was not surprised at all that this was a healing song, it sounded like safety and warm places and the belief that things could get better. It felt like Yuna’s hugs- like Bunny imagined what Yuna’s hugs would feel like if they were real and not digital.

In the end, the fact that the song worked for Akane’s sister, Mitsuki, was not a surprise.

 

The surprise was what Yuna saw in her skill list.

 

<<Chant>>.

 


	23. Pluto

Pluto can not find the Princess. She knows that the Princess, that that girl who was once Serenity is alive, yes but she can not find her.

 

The time stream is in flux, what was once a certain river turning into a brackish swamp.

 

Someone is wrong with Serenity, and Pluto, the only one who knows, can not do anything. 

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being gone for so long. Have a bit of an idea blank on this part

“Come on Yuna”, Bunny begged, grabbing her sister’s hand.

 

“I don’t want to”.

 

“But they’re waiting for you. Your a star. It's so cool”. She stomped her foot on the so cool for emphasis. 

 

Her sister was a star. It was awesome. She should be basking in her fame, not hiding with a bag over her head.

 

“It’s embarrassing”.

 

That made no sense. Yuna was an awesome singer and she was getting popular and it was great. It was so cool. “No. You’re an awesome singer”.

 

Yuna made a sound of disagreement.

 

This would not do. Yuna would see how awesome she was. Then they would go eat super nice food with her fans and it would be great.

 

So. There.

 


End file.
